How the two best players in the transfer portal impact their new women’s college basketball teams

Olivia Miles is trading in Notre Dame for TCU, while Ta’Niya Latson has left Florida State for South Carolina.

We won’t be seeing Olivia Miles and Ta’Niya Latson in the ACC next season.

The multi-time All-American point guard and the nation’s leading scorer entered the transfer portal near the end of March. On Tuesday, they announced their new homes.

Miles will spend her final year of college basketball in the Big 12 at TCU, where she’ll step into the shoes of Hailey Van Lith and be the next in what is becoming a lengthy line of talented guards to suit up for Mark Campbell. Latson, meanwhile, reunites with her high school teammate Raven Johnson at South Carolina, and provides a scoring punch to a team that could use one after losing the national title game to UConn by 23 points.

When Miles and Latson entered the portal, they immediately became the best players in it and left big voids on their former teams, Notre Dame and Florida State. They will now be expected to provide boosts to their new teams. Miles will be tasked with ensuring that TCU’s first-ever Elite Eight run wasn’t just a flash in the pan, while Latson will be saddled with doing all she can to help South Carolina get back to the Big Dance’s biggest stage.

Here’s how both players change the outlook for their respective teams.

Olivia Miles makes TCU a contender again

The Horned Frogs are coming off their best season in program history. In its second campaign under Mark Campbell, TCU won a program-record 34 games, won the Big 12 for the first time ever, and then played in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight for the first time ever.

But at least three of the top four players from that roster — Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince and Agnes Emma-Nnopu — are moving on, either off to the WNBA or out of eligibility. The future of a fourth, All-Big 12 First Team selection Madison Conner, seems to be unclear as she was celebrated on TCU’s senior night but may have another year of eligibility left and hasn’t publicly indicated whether or not she is pursuing the WNBA Draft this year.

Regardless of Conner’s status, TCU had work to do in the portal to keep its roster at a contending level, considering the departures of the other three starters and that the Horned Frogs have zero ESPN Top 100 recruits incoming this season. The addition of Miles, however, makes TCU an immediate contender for the Big 12 title again and will put it in position for another deep March Madness run.

In every season she’s been healthy, Miles has been to the Sweet 16. She helped Notre Dame win an ACC regular season title in 2023 before then missing all of what would have been her natural junior season with a knee injury. The point guard from New Jersey bounced back in a big way this season though, earning All-ACC and All-American honors for the third time in her career. Following a season in which she averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point land, Miles likely would have been a top five pick in the WNBA Draft. Instead, she improves TCU’s outlook in a huge way.

“There is not a better point guard in the country than Olivia,” Campbell said in statement. “She is a generational talent. Her vision, creativity, and playmaking ability make her a perfect fit in our pick and roll system.”

TCU has also added Kentucky center Clara Silva and Texas A&M guard Taliyah Parker to pair with Miles and returning starter Donovyn Hunter. And the portal is far from closing.

Ta’Niya Latson gives South Carolina what it was missing

A player coached by Dawn Staley has not averaged north of 20 points per game since A’ja Wilson’s senior year in the 2017-18 season. Some of that is by design, as Staley in recent years has played a deep and a balanced rotation. The last player to play more than 30 minutes per game for Staley was Destanni Henderson in the 2021-22 season.

That hasn’t been a criticism of Staley in recent years, but South Carolina’s lack of a bus driver — a go-to scorer, someone the Gamecocks could count on to get buckets in meaningful moments when their defense and system wasn’t getting the job done — was apparent this season. Different players stepped up at different times, but the Gamecocks lacked a dynamic offensive weapon who could get them 20 points or more game after game.

Enter Latson, who will spend her final season of college basketball with the Gamecocks after playing three years at Florida State. Latson has averaged more than 21 points per game in each of her collegiate seasons, including 25.2 points per game this season which led the nation. Latson was also eighth nationally in free throws made, second in usage rate, sixth in PER and fifth in offensive win shares per 40 minutes.

Simply put, she’s going to improve South Carolina’s offense in a big way. A former winner of the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year award, Latson was an All-American this season and was a three-time All-ACC selection.

Latson will fill Te-Hina Paopao’s spot at shooting guard and probably get many more open looks than she got at Florida State where she was far and away the No. 1 scoring option. Paired with a veteran in Raven Johnson and electric juniors in MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson, Latson might give South Carolina the most-talented backcourt in the country.